A month or so ago I added a US Spec Paso 750 (in Pearl white) to the increasing collection of Ducati's. It has been a little while, but it has now had a spanner put on it, and the result is a Ducati that has its own fair share of problems. Nothing too drastic (I hope) but thought I would share the issues and results. Sorry, no photos as such.
The first and most obvious were the front and rear tyres. Both Michelins manufactured just this side of the new century. The front one has a split in it about 8 inches long. It hasn't gone through to the inside of the carcass, but they are next to useless. Shinko here I come! For whatever reason they had been pumped up to 60psi! The bike itself was pretty light on its wheels when pushing it around, but really? They now have 40psi in them.
The next issue was the clutch. Is there ever no issue with a Ducati clutch? The clutch cover at some point has been replaced with an open type. A previous owner then promptly left the bike outside in gawd knows what weather. The result is a lot of rust and crap inside the clutch itself, and a very seized clutch piston in the sleeve of the cover. If only it had been fixed when it happened, then the next issue wouldn't have probably happened. At some point the clutch lever was pulled in. No movement of the piston blew the ring out of all the seals in the Master Cylinder. The result was brake fluid being left to run down the fairing and settling in any crevice it could find. Next best thing to do. Add more brake fluid and repeat process!
You do scratch your head sometimes!? The tank and fairing have a little staining from the brake fluid, which mostly polished off, but where the brake fluid sat between the tank and fairing, all paint has rotted away. The tank was washed down and dried, and then a coat of white under coat applied. It's not perfect but should protect the metal, and it can't be seen once the fairing is all back together.Anyway, back to the slave. The piston was not coming out without an argument, or at least compressed air. A lack of air compressor resulted in the purchase of a Makita Tyre inflator (a DMP181Z). I am a bit of a fan of Makita products, and this unit hasn't changed that. According to the handbook it is capable of 161psi, and the piston needed every one of those psi! I wound the pressure up in 20psi steps, and it needed 160psi to move it. I kid you not; the piston came out with a crack like a bullet from a gun! I even checked the bench I was working on to see if it had gone through. Never underestimate the power of compressed air is the lesson I learnt that day! So now I have the piston (surface corrosion) and a slave bore (more surface corrosion and the left-over rubber from the seal). The piston didn't look like anything I expected, ie: a carrier, a bearing and a brass button. Once I pulled it apart, and then looked in the 906 FAQ's, it turns out it is the same as early 906 slave pistons. A dust cover, spring circlip, a top ball race, loose bearings etc. Both the carrier and bore have now been polished with a little wet and dry and microscrub, and now look the goods. A new seal has been ordered so hopefully it should just work.
The master cylinder has also been re-kitted. There is an excellent post in the P750 about how to rebuild the clutch M/C. A couple of extra things if anyone is interested:
1. Practice with the old parts until you feel you can do it with the new parts. If you don't think you can do it, hand it off.
2. Make sure everything is clean and smooth (particularly the bore of the M/C). I polished it with a nylon brush as per the post, but some of the seal must have been stuck to the bore. It caused no amount of trouble, even though it was so fine it couldn't be seen in torch light. Whatever was still stuck to the bore was causing the piston to stick when fully pushed into the bore. And once the metal ring is hammered home, you are not getting it apart again unless you knacker the ring. I set up the complete assembly and ran brake fluid through it and then let it soak for a day. A very small almost invisible "thing" came through the line the next day, and it has been perfect since. Whatever it was, was enough to cause all sorts of issues.
3. Use a long neck 14mm socket to drive home the metal ring. A standard 14mm is a little too short to get it all the way home (well, mine were).
4. Use the nail method to hold the piston and spring in place before final assembly and leave it there until the handle is back in place and the choke handle is back on. If you remove it before the handle is back on, fair chance the spring will blow the piston out through the dust cover. And the one thing you will forget is to put the choke handle back on too!
Moving on to the next issue. Anything that was made from rubber was shagged! Headlight rubbers, fuel tank rubbers, side cover rubbers etc. Funnily enough, Ducati still stock them all!? Most have been replaced with spares I had, and more are on order. All the fairing well nuts have been replaced too, along with the fuel lines.
Then it came to the fuel tank. In as few words as possible, it's a mess. Old fuel was tipped out and along with the fuel was a mountain of grit and dirt. A quick check of the insides revealed a rusty interior. Not enough to go through the metal, but enough to need attention in the future. Plan A is to use the Google method of vinegar, metal screws (count them before and after) and then shake and stir. Has anyone had similar issues with rust in the fuel tank, and has anyone had a crack at cleaning it?
Then it was on to the electrics. 9v on the coils when the key was turned (13.2v battery) and idiot lights flashing in concert with the fuel pump, ie: the contacts of the ignition switch are a little corroded. In went a couple of relays as per the mod, and no flashing lights and 12v on the coils. The fuel tank wasn't going to help, so on went another tank, a couple of litres of fuel, check the oil, check the belts, on with the choke and hit the start button. And away it went. It took a little bit to prime the weber, but once fuel got through it was all go. Once it warmed up it even idled (I believe I may have stated a few impossibilities at wonders that never cease at this point. I was pretty impressed!).
There were a few other little things that got attention, such as fixing the adjuster of the headlight, replacing the indicators, replacing all the idiot lights with LED's etc. Nothing earth shattering, but maintenance that was needed. An oil, filter, belt change and tyres, but no rush until the tank is clean. One thing I did notice, and it was the same on the other P750 in the shed, is the oil temp gauge doesn't move? I have tested the gauge and sensors and they are all good, and the wiring is 0.2ohm in all directions. Does anyone know what a standard oil temp (according to the dash gauge) should be? The 907's water temp gets up to around 100degC when hot, so would assume the P750's would be around 80-90degC (sorry, don't know what that is in American?).
And now to wait for all the parts, bits and pieces and everything else to turn up. Then repeat!
Cheers.
Nick.
